St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice is appealing for witnesses to come forward following two shop break-ins.
Thieves forced entry through a rear toilet window at their Ruskington shop before prising the safe from the wall and making off with £200 in cash.
The intruders also stole the keys to their neighbouring bookshop and raided that, prising the safe from the wall in a similar manner. The break-ins happened overnight on Monday 18th May and resulted in both shops being unable to open on Tuesday.
Caroline Peach, Retail Manager for St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice, said:
“It is so upsetting that people would choose to target our shops and steal money that directly helps to care for people who are living with life-limiting illnesses.
“Not only did they steal the float money but they also stole a sum of money that had been collected for a volunteers leaving present. It is also going to cost us in excess of £200 to replace the window, safes and locks.
“We have also lost a days taking from both shops as we had to remain closed whilst the scene of crime officers investigated and took prints. All of this is a huge and unnecessary expenditure to the hospice.”
St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice are appealing for anyone with information to come forward and contact crime stoppers on 101 and quote incident 51.
Caroline said: “Senseless crime such as this is so disheartening to our dedicated workforce who work tirelessly to help raise the £4 million our hospice needs to continue its services.
“We just hope that with the help of our local community we can find who is responsible for these crimes and ensure they are brought to justice.”